Goalless at Imperial Fields

By Jim Rowe

McKimm not happy with overall performance

It might have been a clean sheet and another point for Angels but their boss was far from happy with the performance. “Overall there was not enough effort and desire while our passing was sloppy. Perhaps too many players thought it would be enough just to turn up and claim three points from the basement side but credit to Tooting, on another day they would have taken all the points. We were slightly fortunate to come away with a draw and I’m asking for a response against Dulwich Hamlet here on Tuesday evening.”

The first period was instantly forgettable and if “end of season” doesn’t form part of McKimm’s vocabulary, the fact was that for the spectators it certainly felt like that. On 11 minutes, Nathan Elder’s header from a Liam Smith long throw hit a post , and the same player on 32 minutes saw another header saved off the line.

The Terrors best first half moment came on 25 minutes when a fine move eventually saw Chace O’Neil force a fairly comfortable save from Angels keeper Jonny Henly.

To be fair the second period did provide a little more energy from both sides - it could surely only get better - and it was Tooting who showed first. On 53 minutes it required a last ditch tackle from Smith to avaoid the hosts taking the lead and a minute later it was George Beavan to the rescue following more accurate approach play from Tooting. On the hour mark Eddie Dines was just wide with a superb shot that that Henly knew little about.

For the Angels, substitute Andrew Seesay was showing the kind of effort and energy that had been missing from some of the more senior players and on 70 minutes managed a run into the penalty area and was about to pull the trigger when he was muscled out by a couple of Tooting defenders.Two minutes later Elder turned well but his shot cleared the crossbar. The 80th minute saw Joe Turner find himself some space around 20yds out but his shot was wide of the target.

Deep in stoppage time a Tooting player sustained an accidental but potentially serious injury and with both physios advising against movement until the arrival of paramedics the refereee took the common sense decision to end the game at that point. There were few in the crowd who would have argued.